


Tropical Heat

by Tessalia_Grey



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin would hate this place..., F/M, beaches are great, what a night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-12-07 17:07:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20979395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tessalia_Grey/pseuds/Tessalia_Grey
Summary: Bo-Katan and Fenn get stuck on a tropical island





	Tropical Heat

**Author's Note:**

> Because why not...

**1 ABY – Somewhere on route to the Mandalore Sector**

The ship shook. It was slight, but noticeable. Bo made her way from her bunk to the bridge.

“That’s the third time within the last hour,” she stated. “Have you found out what causes this?”

Fenn looked at her over his shoulder. “I think the hyperdrive didn’t agree too well with Hoth. Could be that it got too cold while we were there. Cold can mess with a lot of the drive’s components.”

“Which means?”

Fenn shrugged. “Could be something minor. But I’d like to check it out. We would need to drop out of hyperspace though.”

“Where are we?” Bo inquired.

“Basically, the middle of nowhere. There is a small star system coming up within the next few minutes. There are three planets, none of them inhabited. At least not with sentients. One of them has a viable atmosphere.”

“The Empire?”

Fenn shook his head. “No, these planets have nothing they want. Some ores, but nothing you couldn’t get cheaper elsewhere. The next larger imperial garrison is so far off, I doubt they run a patrol by here that often. They just have to make sure there are no permanent settlements.”

“Alright,” Bo said. “Send a message home that we’ll be delayed and then drop out of hyperspace close to the inhabitable planet.”

###

Fenn was cursing colorfully in his Concordian dialect. He was cramped in the small engine compartment and he did not like what he had found.

A fiery head appeared in the hatch above him. “That bad, huh?”

Fenn grimaced. “You want the good news or the bad news first.”

Bo-Katan wrinkled her nose. “The bad.”

“There are micro-fractures in most of the power couplings of the hyperdrive. If we start it back up, that thing might blow up around our heads. We do not have enough spares to replace them all.”

“Brilliant. What’s the good news?”

“We have thrusters.”

Bo-Katan raised her eyebrows and sighed. She extended a hand to Fenn and he took it, hoisting himself up out of the engine compartment.

“I’ll signal base to send someone to get us,” Bo-Katan said. “You said the planet has a viable atmosphere?”

Fenn nodded. “It does. You want to land?”

“Yes. It’s easier to hide the ship on the planet. Even if the Empire sends patrols sparingly, it’s not worth the risk, especially if we can’t escape via hyperspace.”

Fenn followed Bo-Katan to the bridge. He liked being alone on the ship with her. He had been her protector for two years now, and they trusted each other. It were these times alone together that they could let down their guard. To sit in the galley and drink tea while talking about this and that. Sometimes light stuff; a bit of gossip or a holo vid they both had seen. Sometimes the heavier stuff; their hopes and dreams, their fears. Their regrets.

While Bo-Katan composed and coded the message home, Fenn took a closer look at the planet. The temperature readings were high all over the place. It looked better in the polar regions. There was an island toward the south pole that looked promising.

“I think I’ll set us down here,” he told Bo-Katan. “It’s the coldest place on the planet.”

Bo-Katan looked over and raised her eyebrows again. “That’s the coldest place?”

Fenn shrugged and angled the ship toward the planet, the computer calculating their landing trajectory.

###

The coldest place on the planet was hot and stuffy. Despite that, it was also beautiful. Bo was standing on the white beach that Fenn had put them down on, looking out over the ocean. The water was almost turquois near the shore. Behind her rose a thick jungle. They had scanned for life forms that could be dangerous to them, but there seemed to be no large predators on the island. According to the ship’s database, the islands on the southern hemisphere were largely inhabited by insects, smaller mammals and some birds. The plant life was not catalogued quite as well, but as far as they could tell, there were no poisonous plants.

They had received a message from base, telling them that they had dispatched a ship with a spare hyperdrive, enabling them to repair their ship and fly home on their own. It would take about twelve standard hours for the help to arrive. Until then, they were stuck here. Which wasn’t so bad.

The heady smell of the air appealed to Bo. It tickled at her more primal instincts. Too bad there wasn’t anything large enough to hunt in this jungle. She would have liked that. Just her and Fenn; two skilled hunters and their prey. Instead, Fenn was setting traps. The smaller mammals were plentiful, and chances were good that a few of them would end in a snare. They had plenty of rations, but why eat those when you could get real food instead?

While Bo watched Fenn, another very primal instinct tucked at her consciousness. One she regularly pushed down or satisfied herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Fenn. Far from it. She had always found him attractive. The boy he had still been when he joined the protectors to serve her father as well as the man that boy had grown into. He was no longer as reckless as he had been, and his demeanor was a lot calmer; but he was just as hotblooded in battle as ever. A combination that Bo found particularly appealing.

There was a physical attraction between them, and they both knew it. Like now, as Bo watched Fenn work, armorless and with his shirt discarded, with sweat running down from his brow. Bo sometime caught Fenn looking at her the same way when they were alone. Not a stare, more like an appreciative gaze.

No, it had never been a question of attraction. It was always something else that had kept them from venturing down that path. First her father, then the civil war, Death Watch, the siege, her regency, Saxon’s betrayal. Every time they got somewhat close, either the outer circumstances or their own decisions had pulled them apart time and again. It wasn’t until Sabine had returned to Krownest with the Darksabre that Bo and Fenn had reunited. When Bo had made it known that Clan Kryze stood with the Wrens, it had surprised her that other clans had suddenly followed. Fenn had not been surprised at all. _They still follow you,_ he had said. _They follow the blade,_ Bo had retorted. And yet, here they were again. The ruler and her protector. And a line they now dared not cross carefully drawn between them.

###

Fenn had set the snares and they had gathered enough firewood for the night; so now all they had to do was wait. It would be dark in a few hours, so they had decided to shorten the time by exploring the jungle a bit. Due to the lack of larger animals, there were no game trails, slowing down their progress. But Fenn didn’t mind. He was starting to enjoy their forced time out.

He watched Bo-Katan skillfully navigate the roots and slings. She was graceful, her motions fluid and agile. Her silhouette was still shaped like an hourglass, though she was no longer as skinny as during the siege and her regency. It had been a time when Fenn had often needed to remind her to eat. There had been something edgy and angular about her back then. Somewhere in the last twenty years, the edges had given way to soft, gentle curves. Fenn counted his blessings that, as her protector, it was his job to watch her closely.

After a few minutes, they found a clearing. A small stream was running right through it. Along the edges of the clearing were bushes full of small, silvery white blossoms. They filled the clearing with an intoxicating smell. It was beautiful, and Fenn heard Bo-Katan utter a very quiet “wow”.

Many Mandalorian women were extremely fond of flowers. But Fenn knew Bo-Katan was no flower-wearing woman. He had seen her with flowers in her hair exactly twice in the almost forty years they had known each other.

The first time she had been sixteen. Her father had been entertaining his allies with a banquet, and he had insisted on his daughters looking like the princesses they were. Fenn had always found Bo-Katan beautiful, but that evening, she had been downright breathtaking. Her mother had put her foot down and had made her wear a dress, the soft purple fabric clinging to Bo-Katan’s curves. She had even worn earrings; tear-shaped lapis dangling on a golden string. And yellowy-white flowers in her hair, accenting the occasionally unnerving yellow flecks in her otherwise green eyes.

The second time was her nephew’s birthday a few months back. Korkie’s daughters had used their strength in numbers; three of them tackling Bo-Katan while the fourth had managed to tuck a single yellowy-white flower behind her ear. Bo-Katan had gracefully accepted her defeat and worn the flower for the rest of the day. Fenn knew she still had it. She had dried it, and it now resided in the small wooden box Bo-Katan kept her memorabilia in.

To Fenn’s great surprise, Bo-Katan plucked some of the flowers in the clearing. She blushed when she caught Fenn’s gaze, but kept the flowers anyway.

###

Bo was strangely content. She was sitting on a blanket on the beach by the fire. She had taken her boots off, and her toes were digging into the fine, powdery sand. She had peeled her armor off hours ago, and now she had her pants rolled up to her knees and was wearing a tank top. It was just too hot for anything else.

The snares had paid off greatly, and they had gorged on roasted…whatever those small mammals were called. If they even had a name. Well, they had been delicious, and Bo was stuffed.

Fenn had vanished into the ship saying he was looking for something, so Bo was sitting here alone, watching as the sun slowly dropped toward the horizon. She sighed and picked up the flowers she had gathered in the clearing. She usually wasn’t one for flowers, and she had seen Fenn’s surprised look when she had plucked them. Satine had always been the more girly one of them, wearing flowers whenever she could. As duchess, she had worn them almost daily. They had a working system when they were children. Bo picked the flowers and made a necklace or something out of it, and Satine would wear it.

Absentmindedly, Bo started to knot the flowers together. There were too few for a necklace; when she was done, it looked more like a crown. The silvery glow to the blossoms lending a small shimmer to it.

Fenn came back outside, with a plate and a bottle.

“Meiloorun?” he asked, holding the plate out to Bo.

“Where did get _that_?”

“Hera Syndulla. She was delivering food to Hoth and had like five crates of those. She figured one single Meiloorun wouldn’t be missed.”

Bo grinned. She took the plate from Fenn and he sat down. Bo tried a slice. It was delicious.

“What’s in the bottle?” she asked.

Fenn grinned. “I traded a bottle of tihaar against a bottle of Corellian Whisky with that Wookie pilot.”

“And you plan to drink it?”

Fenn shrugged. “In case you haven’t noticed, neither you nor I really drink these days. We swallow three sips of whatever goes around and that’s it.”

“I like to keep a clear head. As Mand’alor, my word is basically the law, and I don’t want to take a risk there,” Bo answered.

“I get that,” Fenn said, smiling slightly. “Drunk rulers are dangerous, and drunk protectors can’t do their job.”

Fenn unscrewed the bottle’s cap. “But,” he continued, “here we are, stranded on a beach for another nine hours. There are the sounds of the jungle behind us, the crackling of the fire, the sound of waves and an actually rather breathtaking sunset. I think we can indulge for once.”

Bo looked at Fenn with raised eyebrows, and then looked out over the ocean toward the sunset. It truly was breathtaking. Fenn was right, they never indulged. They did their duty, and apart from the few moments with friends or family and the time alone they occasionally shared, their personal lives were all but gone. Fenn served her and Bo served her people. There was hardly room for anything else. But tonight? In this place?

“A night off,” Bo said.

Fenn chuckled. “Yeah. I think we both need that, don’t you?”

Bo looked at him. A mischievous grin started to pull at the corner of her mouth. She held her hand out, and Fenn handed her the bottle, looking almost shocked.

Bo took a sip, the strong liquor burning her throat in a rather pleasant way.

“Not bad,” she said, handing the bottle back to Fenn, who put the bottle to his lips and took a swing.

He grinned. “Not bad at all.”

###

Bo-Katan Kryze, duchess of her clan, leader of her house, and sole ruler of Mandalore, was tipsy. Not drunk, mind you, it needed more than half a bottle of spirits for that, but tipsy none the less. And she was enjoying it.

Right now, she was lying on the blanket by the fire looking up at the night sky. It was beautiful. The planet had no moon, so all there was were an uncountable number of stars. You could even see one of the galaxy’s spirals as a sort of soft purplish vapor around a long band of clustered stars. The temperatures were still warm, the air still stuffy; the breeze that was now coming from the ocean not a bit cooler than the air in the jungle behind them.

Fenn was sitting on the blanket right next to her, toying with something in his hands. Bo was curious and sat up. It was the crown of flowers she had made earlier.

“Do you think me silly for making that?” she asked. A question she would have probably not uttered if she was sober.

“Nah. Just surprised, is all,” Fenn answered, looking at her sideways with a relaxed smile on his face. “You used to hate flowers.”

Bo shrugged. “I don’t hate flowers. It’s just…A warrior with flowers?”

“Why not?” Fenn asked.

Bo grinned and snatched the flowers from his hands, placing them on Fenn’s head. A rather girlish giggle escaped her at the sight of him with flowers in his hair. Fenn took it with grace.

“So, how do I look?”

Bo kept giggling. “I like it. I like the contrast to the stubble,” she said, absentmindedly running a finger lightly along Fenn’s jaw, the scruffy hairs tickling her finger.

Fenn reached out with his hands, and Bo had to fight the instinct to draw her head back. But she didn’t, and Fenn carefully removed her headband. Her hair immediately fell forward, and she tucked one side behind her ear. Fenn took the flowers from his head and placed it on hers. He hooked an index finger under her chin, gently tilting her head left and right. Then he shrugged.

“Still badass,” he said matter-of-factly. Then he grinned. “Bo-Katan Kryze, warrior queen of the jungle.”

Bo snorted in a very unladylike fashion and Fenn threw his head back, laughing.

“Di’kut,” Bo chuckled. “Anyway, I’m not accepting new titles tonight. It’s our night off, remember?”

“You’re right,” Fenn amended. “So, since none of us had a real night off in like two years…What do you do again on such occasions? I’m out of practice.”

Bo grinned. “Well, there is always getting drunk and getting into a brawl.”

“Oh, wait,” Fenn said. “Dancing!”

“Getting drunk, then dancing, and then a brawl.”

“Well,” Fenn said, almost embarrassed, “I just traded _one_ bottle of tihaar. There is more on the ship.”

Bo raised her eyebrows. She should say no, tell Fenn good night and go to bed. But the air and the setting got to her – not to mention the alcohol – and Bo wondered if it was really what she wanted. The primal instincts from earlier tucked at her consciousness again. It was her night off. And Bo wanted to take it. Another mischievous smile slowly spread across her lips.

###

Bo-Katan Kryze, duchess of her clan, leader of her house, and sole ruler of Mandalore, was drunk.

No, wait, _Bo_ was drunk. Bo-Katan Kryze, duchess of her clan, leader of her house, and sole ruler of Mandalore, was heaving a night off and was not available at present. Which was probably good. Because Bo was rather certain that Mand’alore were not supposed to sleep with their protector. Bo and Fenn, two aging warriors who had danced around each other for almost forty years on the other hand… Well…

Bo wasn’t entirely sure how they ended up like this. They _had_ followed their plan. They had gotten rather drunk on the remaining tihaar, they _literally had_ danced, and they had brawled. And at some point, amidst the playful fighting and trying to get the other to yield, _this_ had happened. Their faces had gotten impossibly close, noses already pressing against cheeks, their panting breaths mingling. Bo couldn’t tell who had closed the last fraction of a distance between them. The first kiss had been tentative, almost shy. As had been the second. The third had been more confident. The kisses had become faster, more frantic after that. As if they were afraid that if they stopped, this would be over. They had slowed eventually, and Bo’s tongue had found its way into Fenn’s mouth while hands had started to carefully explore where they usually wouldn’t dare venture.

Now, Bo was lying on the blanket by the fire, naked as the day she was born, with Fenn Rau above her, slowly making love to her. Bo was reveling in all of it. The warm, heavy air, the warmth of Fenn’s body covering her own, his gentle kisses, the slight sense of vertigo due to the alcohol, and the Mando’a endearments they whispered into the other’s ear.

A part of her wished it would go on like this all night. But she knew it couldn’t. Bo felt herself getting closer to the edge with every passing moment and she knew Fenn wasn’t far behind her. He buried his head in the crook of her neck, the stubble of his beard a stark contrast to his soft lips on her sensitive skin.

Fenn kept their rhythm torturously slow, but now he pushed harder, one hand curling around Bo’s thigh for better leverage. Bo brought his lips back to hers. She tried to convey with that single kiss all the things she didn’t dare utter in words.

Every muscle and fiber inside her coiled together into a tightly wound knot that threatened to burst every moment. Fenn pushed hard, and Bo let go. For a few moments, she lost all sense of self as she came undone.

###

The kiss Bo was giving him was something else. Fenn tried to remember if he had ever been kissed like that and came up blank. He thrust hard inside her and Bo arched her back, clenching around him and pulling him over the edge with her.

Fenn was shaking, almost unable to hold himself up any longer. His hand was still curled around Bo’s thigh and so he rolled them over on their side. For a while they just lay there, still panting, hands still lightly caressing the other.

Fenn pulled her closer. It felt so right to have her in his arms. He had to hold back to not say something in his tihaar-addled state that they might later regret. He hoped Bo would not regret _this night_ later. Fenn knew he never would.

He felt Bo snuggle even closer, her arm and leg that were still slung over his side pulling him against her.

They just lay there, holding each other, their breathing slowly returning to normal. Fenn felt himself slowly drift off. He hadn’t been this content in many, many years. _I really shouldn’t fall asleep_, he thought. _I really…_

###

Bo was comfortable. Very comfortable. Warm, content, … It would be a wonderful morning, if it weren’t for that annoying beeping sound trying to get through to her consciousness.

_Kriff! _The annoying beeping sound was her comm. Bo almost jumped up, digging through the pile of clothes to find her wrist comm, and answered it.

“Yes,” she said, her voice sounding raspy, and she cleared her throat.

“This is the _Piercer_,” came a voice from the other end. “We’re about twenty minutes out with your spare hyperdrive, ner alor. Could you send us your exact location?”

“Sure. Hold on.” Bo pressed a button on her comm, sending their coordinates.

“Thank you. See you soon.”

The comm went dead. Bo turned around to Fenn, who had sat up on the blanket, looking at her.

“Back to business, I guess,” he said. He almost sounded normal, but Bo thought she detected a hint of sadness in it.

“Yeah, I guess so,” she answered, sounding a bit off herself.

Fenn got up, and it was just now that Bo realized they were both still completely naked. She let her eyes roam over Fenn for just a moment. Her eyes suddenly met his, and she knew he had been doing the same with her. Fenn cleared his throat.

“Well,” he said, “I guess we better get dressed, since we are expecting company soon.”

Bo nodded. They sorted through their clothes, until they had both gathered everything up in their arms.

Fenn was turning toward their ship, and Bo made a snap decision.

“Fenn, wait!” she said, and he turned around.

Bo’s stomach fluttered like it hadn’t in decades, but she swallowed her nerves and closed the distance between them, one hand curling around Fenn’s neck to pull him down into a kiss. She felt Fenn stiffen for just a second, before he melted against her. It felt just as good as it had last night.

But they truly were expecting company, so after a few moments, Bo let go of Fenn’s neck and gently pulled herself away from him. But Fenn didn’t let her go. Instead, he mimicked her movement, one hand curling around her neck and pulling her back to him. He kissed her, and passionately so. Bo shivered, and sighed into his mouth. She pressed herself against him, grinding her hips against his as arousal began to rise up inside her once more. But…

“We don’t have time,” she murmured against Fenn’s lips.

“I know,” he sighed.

He gave Bo one last hard kiss that made her knees go weak before they detangled themselves from the other.

###

The next two hours had passed in a sort of blur. They had dressed, the _Piercer_ had arrived, and their hyperdrive had been exchanged for a working one.

Now they were back in hyperspace, following the _Piercer_ home. Bo and Fenn had both showered to get the sweat and sand off. They had also opted for their compression suites, warming them in the colder air of the ship.

Now, Bo stood in the small galley, making tea. When it was done, she took two thermal mugs with her to the bridge.

Fenn sat in the pilot’s chair, though there was no real piloting to be done. Bo sat down in the co-pilot’s chair next to him and handed him the tea.

To her surprise, she noticed that Fenn had apparently saved her flower crown. It was now dangling on one of the ship’s controls. Bo smiled.

“Fenn?”

“Mmm?”

“Let’s get stuck on a remote planet once in a while.”

**Author's Note:**

> **translations**
> 
> di'kut - idiot  
Mand'alor(e) - sole ruler(s) of Mandalore  
Ner alor - my leader, my chief, ...


End file.
